A reply today reminded me of this.
Back in the days when tires were measured using a different measuring system, dating back to my youth. Before the metric system that we use today, the domestic system we used measured section width by letter instead of a number.
So,...the higher the letter in the alphabet, the wider the tire..maybe some of you remember. Personally, I had L 60 X 15's on the rear of my car, and some sort of G 70 X 15 on the front. My dim bulb cousin had N 50 X 15's on his Nova mounted on Keystone classics, hanging out of the quarters by a mile, all stupid lookin an sht.
But it was the 70's.....Doing stupid sht was encouraged by the car mags of the day,.....they coined the term "Street Freaks". The gaudier the car, the better chance that thing had to get into a mag...You just had to be at one of the car meets they had back then,...or live in LA.
While there are thousands of pics to choose from...I think these best describe the decade.
What a treat this must've been to drive..
If the car wasn't a freakin mile in the sky, and didn't have a straight front axle, and a tilt front end, you were weak sauce.
Or,....if you didn't pick that route....the more hideous the paint the better..
I wonder if this guy was ever able to kick his coke habit?
This is why "named" cars always turn out badly.
Or this Blasphemy:
Lastly, like my cousin,..the "must have" look for the rest of us ( those that could neither afford a 6-71 blower to put on our straight front axle'd, mile high gasser wannabe, or pay some painter on acid to paint our car) had to suffice with this stupid look:
This was the end of the decade....front runner Centerline Wheels are just starting to make an appearance...for those that could afford them.
All it took to make this happen was a set of air shocks, some N 50x15s, and a torch to heat the front coils till they sagged, and you got yourself Bonafide......an instant street hero..
I was right there with them though,.....heated front coils, 10.5x28.5 Firestone Drag 500 slicks on the street on a 69 Mach 1...big stupid hood scoop...
All of this sparked this morning by a recollection I had as a kid, standing in the office at a junk yard with a friend waiting for them to confirm that they had some part that I needed for my Mustang.
One of the owners' ( Chuck) had a co worker who was clearly a little mentally challenged, and physically handicapped. He spoke with a slur, and drug one of his feet. He was working the phone, and he took a call. After talking to the caller, he calls out to Chuck ( who was on the phone himself)
"Chuck!......Need some G78x14's!" Chuck don't answer cause Chuck's on the phone.."Chuck!! G78x14's,...Need some G78x14's!!....Still on the phone. " Chuck?....Chuck?" Aww fck it......"We don't got any" and he hangs up the phone. We couldn't help but laugh,...and I'll never forget it.
The 80's changed all of that,..pro street came along,..and the mile high cars got tubbed,..and tires that were hanging out got made to fit under the car...if you were a car guy back then as I was, and are still a car guy today, as I am,..you automatically get a "car guy Purple Heart" for having been exposed to this PTSD, and still be able to continue on to be a productive normal human being..
Back in the days when tires were measured using a different measuring system, dating back to my youth. Before the metric system that we use today, the domestic system we used measured section width by letter instead of a number.
So,...the higher the letter in the alphabet, the wider the tire..maybe some of you remember. Personally, I had L 60 X 15's on the rear of my car, and some sort of G 70 X 15 on the front. My dim bulb cousin had N 50 X 15's on his Nova mounted on Keystone classics, hanging out of the quarters by a mile, all stupid lookin an sht.
But it was the 70's.....Doing stupid sht was encouraged by the car mags of the day,.....they coined the term "Street Freaks". The gaudier the car, the better chance that thing had to get into a mag...You just had to be at one of the car meets they had back then,...or live in LA.
While there are thousands of pics to choose from...I think these best describe the decade.
What a treat this must've been to drive..
If the car wasn't a freakin mile in the sky, and didn't have a straight front axle, and a tilt front end, you were weak sauce.
Or,....if you didn't pick that route....the more hideous the paint the better..
I wonder if this guy was ever able to kick his coke habit?
This is why "named" cars always turn out badly.
Or this Blasphemy:
Lastly, like my cousin,..the "must have" look for the rest of us ( those that could neither afford a 6-71 blower to put on our straight front axle'd, mile high gasser wannabe, or pay some painter on acid to paint our car) had to suffice with this stupid look:
This was the end of the decade....front runner Centerline Wheels are just starting to make an appearance...for those that could afford them.
All it took to make this happen was a set of air shocks, some N 50x15s, and a torch to heat the front coils till they sagged, and you got yourself Bonafide......an instant street hero..
I was right there with them though,.....heated front coils, 10.5x28.5 Firestone Drag 500 slicks on the street on a 69 Mach 1...big stupid hood scoop...
All of this sparked this morning by a recollection I had as a kid, standing in the office at a junk yard with a friend waiting for them to confirm that they had some part that I needed for my Mustang.
One of the owners' ( Chuck) had a co worker who was clearly a little mentally challenged, and physically handicapped. He spoke with a slur, and drug one of his feet. He was working the phone, and he took a call. After talking to the caller, he calls out to Chuck ( who was on the phone himself)
"Chuck!......Need some G78x14's!" Chuck don't answer cause Chuck's on the phone.."Chuck!! G78x14's,...Need some G78x14's!!....Still on the phone. " Chuck?....Chuck?" Aww fck it......"We don't got any" and he hangs up the phone. We couldn't help but laugh,...and I'll never forget it.
The 80's changed all of that,..pro street came along,..and the mile high cars got tubbed,..and tires that were hanging out got made to fit under the car...if you were a car guy back then as I was, and are still a car guy today, as I am,..you automatically get a "car guy Purple Heart" for having been exposed to this PTSD, and still be able to continue on to be a productive normal human being..
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